E3: Ubisoft teases (again!) with Michael Jackson
Somebody at Ubisoft must be a big fan of the films “Jaws” or “Predator,” where the title characters do not materialize until late in the movie. Or maybe it’s the play “Waiting for Godot” they admire — Godot never shows at all.
Why else would they — for the second year in a row — devote a chunk of time at their E3 event to a highly anticipated video game, and not show any footage from the game?
Ubisoft ended its show on Monday with a wonderfully loud, energetic, amped-up dance routine featuring six of the talented performers from Michael Jackson’s “This Is It” concert rehearsal documentary. They were giving us a taste of what we can expect from the game Ubisoft is developing in conjunction with Jackson’s Estate (due later this year on all major platforms.)
Or at least we assume it was a taste — they didn’t show any actual game footage. Just dancers.
Don’t get me wrong, the dancers were amazing and the show-us-more-game-video loving crowd lapped it up. But I left wondering, wasn’t this just like last year, when big-giant-huge title for the holiday season “Avatar” was teased, but not shown, by Mr. Avatar himself, James Cameron?
Of course, “Avatar” — the movie at least — went on to be a mega-hit at the box office, and “Beat It” is like my favorite Jackson song, so I am stoked for a sing-along, dance-along, title. Maybe there is something to this anticipation strategy…
For Yahoo, Tiger scandal better than Michael Jackson
Celebrity deaths are big news. But nothing warms a media executive’s heart more than a good celebrity sex scandal.
“God bless Tiger. This week we got a huge uplift.” Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz told a crowd of investors in New York on Tuesday at the UBS Media and Communications Conference.
Bartz noted that the Tiger Woods story has filtered through all of Yahoo’s key online properties, from front page news to websites dedicated to sports and gossip.
Asked if Wood’s recently alleged extracurricular activities would help Yahoo meet its quarterly financial targets, Bartz joked that it absolutely would, and added that the scandal has been better for business than Michael Jackson dying. “It’s kind of hard to put an ad up next to a funeral.”
The golfing phenom came up again later during Bartz’s appearance, in a discussion about charging for online news (as News Corp’s Rupert Murdoch is increasingly interested in doing) or keeping the content freely-available and subsidized by advertisements.
Bartz said that certain publishers may decide to charge for online news, but cautioned that the news “better be very specialized.”
Articles about Tiger Woods will not be able to sit behind a paywall, Bartz said. “There’s too many places that have that.”
With Dean Swift terminally spinning in his grave, Ms. Bartz ought to change the name of her trashy company from his original trademark for complete morons to… “Jawohl!”
Grey’s, Wives on Hulu from today
Starting today Disney content will go live on Hulu, consumating a deal that was struck earlier this year to join the two-year venture with NBC Universal, News Corp and Providence Equity Partners.
The first few shows include popular fare from ABC such as Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. This means Hulu is going from strength to strength in locking down its leadership as the place for watching TV on the Web.
Part of the attraction of Hulu is that it is free for U.S. residents, since most of the content can be watched for free over the air in the U.S. But we wouldn’t be surprised if Hulu’s owners added a paid service as part of the TV Everywhere initiative players like Time Warner have been promoting. Such a ‘paid-for’ service would actually be free if the customer is already a paying cable/satellite TV subscriber.
Hulu is also making strides to launch in the UK soon.
In the meantime, if you’re stuck at your desk tomorrow at 9.30am PST (12.30pm EST) you can watch the Michael Jackson service live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The broadcast is being provided to Hulu by half-sister network Fox News. After the live-stream, Hulu will also offer on-demand access of the entire memorial service.
Did Vibe miss the online vibe?
Here’s an entry from our very own Reuters New York equities team summer intern Chavon Sutton. (Thanks, Chavon!)
Did Vibe magazine, the print ambassador of hip-hop culture, voice and style, pass up a chance to survive last year?
Vibe, the baby of acclaimed producer Quincy Jones (the composer who produced the late Michael Jackson’s mega-hit albums, “Thriller” and “Off the Wall,”), said earlier this week that it was shutting down immediately.
A partnership with an online gossip website serving African-American readers, might have given it room to keep producing, according to the site’s founder and editor.
Fred Mwangaguhunga, who runs Mediatakeout.com, told us that in the year before Vibe’s collapse, it offered the magazine a revenue-share deal, but Vibe refused.
“We came to Vibe and offered it a deal where they’d sell our ads and in return, they’d get a stake in the ads they sold,” Mwangagunhunga said.
The partnership could have given Vibe “$1 million a month, but they didn’t want it,” he said. $1 million a month? Hard to say. (For what it’s worth, Mwangaguhunga says Mediatakeout.com gets 3 to 5 million unique viewers and 150 million page impressions per month.)
Mediatakeout matches with Ebony like oil mixes with water. The audacity for a garbage company that for the most part breathes to highlight the worst pieces of (mostly untrue) news in black america to approach a legacy family owned business like ebony magazine who did so much to build up the community…its crazy. Vibe and Ebony are blue chip legends who just need the right people to help them monetize their names. MediaTakeOut regardless of their traffic is 100% garbage. They will never command blue chip advertisers. It’s not about quickness to report like too many bloggers attach themselves to the thought of — its also about journalistic integrity and existing for a reason. Get a grip MTO and stick in the dirt where you belong. Know your place. I love you for your place but its not in the leagues with Ebony/Vibe/etc. John Johnson would roll over in his grave if his publication took that route.
TMZ got the scoop, will it see the money?
Time Warner-owned celebrity news website TMZ may have been first in reporting the death of Michael Jackson, but is all the buzz around the site going to turn into cash?
It’s a question the LA Times asks in this article, pointing out that the Jackson scoop — the biggest in TMZ’s history — comes at a time when the TMZ’s tactics and “tabloid sensibilities” have angered publicists and government officials, made other journalists reluctant to cite TMZ, and even caused advertisers to shy away from putting their messages on the site.
In a piece last Friday, The New York Times’ Brian Stelter pointed out that even though TMZ looks good because it beat all rivals with the Jackson news, the “Jackson family said the time of death was 5:26 p.m. Eastern, several minutes after TMZ’s report, leading some to wonder whether the Web site looked accurate only in hindsight.”
TMZ editor-in-chief Harvey Levin told the Times their report was 100 percent accurate. He also said the site pays “tip fees” that lead to stories, but did not say whether they paid any sources for the Jackson news.
As the LA Times story by Scott Collins and Meg James says, one of the reasons why the site makes people — especially other reporters — uncomfortable is “a sense that TMZ is flouting not so much the law as journalistic ethics. Rivals have consistently accused Levin and company of paying for information.”
So despite the site’s record of getting big celebrity news and the claims that TMZ’s scoop represents the triumph of new media over old, it’s not immediately clear that Time Warner will begin to make a ton of money off this asset. TMZ is a joint venture between AOL and Telepictures.
Keep an eye on:
I loved TMZ untill last night. I feel they need not partake in destroying M.J.’s children.They are inocent and greiving.
In death Michael Jackson gives life to media
As the world mourned his death, Michael Jackson gave new life to all kinds of media – online, broadcast, print tabloids and broadsheets as the public appeared to lap up the extravagant reflections on the singer’s highs and lows.
T-shirts were sold and TV specials were planned giving a sense of drama reminiscent to the death of Diana Princess of Wales.
In newspapers like the New York Times, Jackson, 50, took over much of the Friday front page. Forget the political uproar in Iran, which has dominated headlines in recent days or the adulturous governor of South Carolina, or even the demise of Charlie’s Angels star Farrah Fawcett.
This makes sense since, as Gawker points out, millions of people who normally wouldn’t buy a newspaper will buy one today to get hold of Jackson headlines.
As the news trickled out on Thursday afternoon, fans scrambled to find out the truth.
“Pop King Dies and Leading News Sites Nearly Die Too,” was the subject in an email from Web traffic watcher Keynote Systems that described the strain Jackson put on news sites.
Michael Jackson was and will always be a legend. We miss you already. I grew up on his music and he was a true entertainer. I think it is sad that some people didn’t appreciate him until his untimely death. I feel that the doctors that gave him drugs should be prosecuted or have their medical licenses revoked. How many people have to die before we stand up as a country and prosecute these doctors?
YouTube: And the beat no longer goes on — in the UK
It’s Day 2 of YouTube versus PRS For Music, the British organization that collects royalties for songwriters and publishers whenever songs are broadcast over the air and the Web or performed in public venues .
As you may know by now, YouTube started blocking UK visitors from watching professional music videos and users’ videos that feature licensed music. The reason, as usual, is each side said the other guys are being unreasonable in their fee negotiations. YouTube says PRS wants many times more than a previous deal, while PRS says YouTube actually wants to pay less than they currently pay.
There was some signs of progress today when PRS put out a statement:
Talks between PRS for Music and Google took place today to discuss the licensing of YouTube following Google’s sudden decision to block premium video content on the service in the UK.
The meeting was positive. We are committed to ensuring our 60,000 songwriter and composers members receive a fair deal and that UK consumers continue to enjoy music videos on YouTube.
PRS said both sides are due to meet again in the next few days.
And like in the US and every other country on the planet, Brits will miss their YouTube music, so much so that the UK’s Minister for Communications, Technology and Broadcasting Lord Carter commented on the row to a House of Commons business committee, according to the BBC.
The headline of the same BBC story might lead readers to think online radio service Last.fm was also about to fall out with the PRS: “Last.FM joins Google’s rights row”. But the story in fact quotes Last.fm founder Martin Stiksel saying while his company has an agreement with PRS, the licenses are getting expensive:
i for one think this is a good thing its putting more controle on music through the internet and will hopefully eventually lead to the resurection somewhat of the music buisness wich has been crippled since the use of the internet and diffrent ways to hear music free of charge became popular if this is done corectly all it will mean is more money for musicians wich will atract more and more people to make more music wich is never a bad thing
YouTube gets into online shopping
YouTube, which has nailed the science of online video sharing, is now getting into online shopping by partnering with the likes of Amazon.com and iTunes.
The shop links will be just below the YouTube clips and will eventually sell a wide variety of items and merchandise related to the millions of clips on the site including: MP3s, TV shows, movies, concert tickets, books, maybe, even buy the designer sunglasses your favorite star is wearing in a clip.
So soon you’ll be able to buy the Michael Jackson song playing in the background while watching the hilarious clip of Filipino prisoners doing their reenactment of the ’Thriller’ video.
How will YouTube know if it’s a Michael Jackson song? Executives told Reuters they have a pretty nifty video and audio ID system that helps identify songs and video clips. If the song publisher or movie producer wants they can jointly share in the revenue from the advertising generated around such content.
Keep an eye on:
- Troubled New Jersey newspaper The Star-Ledger will not be sold after one of its unions agreed to concessions (Reuters)
- John Lennon’s widow Yoko Ono and EMI Records have dropped copyright infringement lawsuits against documentary makers for using ‘Imagine’ (Reuters)
- Former New Yorker editor Tina Brown has teamed up with media mogul Barry Diller’s IAC to launch a new glossy mag-style website called The Daily Beast (New York Times)
(Photo: Reuters)
